Regional and National Initiatives

The U-M/UPR Outreach Collaboration is a partnership between the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Río Piedras, to expand access to the area studies and language resources at U-M to the faculty and students at the UPR, as well as in-service teachers in the region around UPR, and their K-12 students. The collaboration is part of the effort by the area studies Centers comprising the International Institute (II) to create sustainable links with institutions serving underrepresented populations, and funded by Title VI grants from the US Department of Education. Each year, the II sends mixed delegations of area studies experts to the UPR for a K-16 professional and curriculum development workshop organized around topics that cross multiple disciplines and allow representation from different world regions.

WHaLI is a unique collaboration between area studies centers in the International Institute and the U-M School of Education (SOE), funded in part by Title VI grants from the US Department of Education, with additional funding from the International Institute and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. Since 2009, WHaLI has provided over 500 K-12 teachers in the fields of History, Social Studies, and English Language Arts with area studies curriculum content and professional development. Held each year in June, WHaLI is a three-day workshop designed to improve teachers’ capacity to teach world history and literature by providing them with area studies resources and content. New initiatives to broaden the reach of WHaLI include opportunities for early career or beginning teachers to work with experienced teachers and scholars, and the use of livestream webcasting technology and on-site facilitators to reach teachers outside the Ann Arbor area.

CSAS is among several area studies centers at the International Institute that are engaged in a collaboration with MIIIE, a consortium of two-year colleges based in the Midwest region that has expanded across the country. The MIIIE is dedicated to improving international studies and foreign language training at each member campus. II’s area studies centers are co-sponsors of the MIIIE’s annual August curriculum development workshops on global thematic topics, helping CC faculty develop area studies curriculum modules, which are shared with other MIIIE member institution faculty as well as other educators and members of the general public (upon request).

Please visit the MIIIE website for more information on past and upcoming workshops.